Sheppard v. Maxwell PDF

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Skyler Riddle Sheppard v. Maxwell (1966) 8-1

Justice Clark

Facts: (July 4, 1954) Marilyn Sheppard, whom was pregnant at the time, was murdered. Her husband, Sam Sheppard, was a well-known osteopath in that area. Dr. Sheppard claims that the night before the murder took place, after entertaining guests, he fell asleep on the couch downstairs while his wife slept upstairs. He then states that he woke up to her screaming, and was knocked unconscious by a “form.” When awaking from consciousness, Dr. Sheppard found that the “form” was no longer there, and his wife was dead upstairs. (October 1954) At the beginning of Dr. Sheppard’s trial the names of the jurors was released, and the media was allowed and covered the court case in trail. Dr. Sheppard filed habeas corpus because he claimed that he did not receive a fair trial due to the media activity. Dr. Sheppard was not successful in lower courts, and appealed to the Supreme Court. Issue: Whether the freedom of expression (media coverage) inside of a trial interferes with a defendant’s Fifth amendment of due process for the right to a fair trial? Held: Yes. Reasoning: The Court found that the state did not fulfill the duty to protect Sheppard from the prejudicial publicity, and therefore the Court must reverse the denial of the habeas petition. The reason that the Court found that the state did not give Dr. Sheppard a fair trial due to the freedom of expression diverted the trial away from its primary purpose: adjudicating both criminal and civil matters in an objective, calm, and solemn courtroom setting....